Broken
by Akama
Summary: A young Taki-delinquent finds himself as the unwilling subordinate of Kisame as he is dragged into a brutal existence and forced to cooperate. I wrote this whilst I was in hospital with a fractured skull, so I used the story to vent my frustration at being trapped in hospital. Features Kisame, Itachi, Kakuzu, Hidan, Pein/Pain, & 1xOC. Rated for brutality and language.
1. Chapter 1

All hail Mashashi Kishimoto.

A/N: The whole summoning jutsu thing - I've seen some characters draw blood, some just open the scroll or whatever, so I assume it works both ways depending on who 'summons' right? I guessed at what was 'right' but whatever, it can't exactly go wrong unless I write that it went wrong, so yeah - it works in here because I say so :/

Written in hospital whilst I was full of benzodiazapines so I'm not expecting this to make sense to anybody else right now. I'm sure once my fractured skull stops hurting and I'm no longer drugged up to the eyeballs, that I will read this and think 'wtf?', but for now - let's just go with it 'kay?

* * *

My thoughts were fading in and out rapidly like a strobe light. Flashes of memory pulsed up. Some in sequence, others random.

I remember travelling across Fire Country, stopping a an Inn, then there was a blank – probably because I helped myself to a bottle of Sake I found lying in the room I rented at the Inn and blacked out, then I remembered walking through Grass Country and getting caught up in a battle and fighting, I remember seeing Kisame suddenly appear – I remember wondering if he had been sent to take me out and was only killing my enemies in order to enable him to kill me himself.

He surged into the fray like a one man army, scattering enemies that been attacking me, then there was nothing.

I had vague memories of being hit with something. Something painful. Then a glimpse of a Kirigakure headband and a large body moving in, then agony as I was shifted before more darkness and then the dirt on the road passing beneath me, my head hurt, and everything was at an odd angle – I concluded that I was slung over Kisame's shoulder at this point.

Then there was nothing until now.

I opened my eyes, 'How long have I been out?'

The question elicited a raised eyebrow and a puzzled look from the ex-mist ninja, who was sitting on the floor leaning against the wall carefully wrapping his great blade after cleaning it, he set it aside and let out a grunt as he rose to his feet; 'I was beginning to think you'd never wake up' he said, turning his back to me and hefting his great blade up with one hand and bringing it to rest on his right shoulder. I thought it strange that he continued to wear Kirigakure-style vest and trousers, even though he was no longer loyal to the village. Personally, I tried to distance myself from anything that looked remotely similar to either my home village or that of the Akatsuki, I used to keep my wrists wrapped in bandages to hide the distinctive tattoos that encircled them – an indicator in my home village of belonging to a specialist squad. I supposed I would be forced to wear the Akatsuki uniform once again if my life was spared by Pein.

'Answer my question' I demanded, moving to sit up and realising that Kisame had clearly stripped me down to my underwear to assess my wounds after he brought my unconscious form back to the safe house. A quick glance beneath the sheet confirmed this – the numerous scrapes and grazes evidence of recent fighting. I frowned seeing that the bandages around my wrists were gone, revealing those god-damned tattoos that I hated so much to the world.

I cared more about that than I did about my injuries. I healed quickly anyway, making most injuries little more than a temporary nuisance to me.

He moved across the room and set the great blade down against the seldom used desk, he turned to me, a dangerous half-snarl half-smirk creeping across his face; 'Making demands of me, tch' he said clicking his tongue in mock indignation.

'I'm in no mood to play games with you Kisame' I wearily announced, throwing the sheet back and swinging my legs over the side of the bed, my bare feet dangling above the stone floor.

He crossed the room to me, 'You're in no position to oppose me right now – while you were unconscious, I took the liberty of putting a seal on you. You can't infuse your chakra...you're powerless' he was doing the thing he often did to assert his dominance in the past, which often provoked me in to petty but bloody fights with him, standing uncomfortably close to me, so close in fact that in these situations we were often touching, this time was no different – I could feel his leg pressed against my knee, towering over me with his physical presence, staring at me with those cold eyes of his, his arms tightly crossed his chest; 'I am your senior. You will not make demands of me, nor will you order me to answer your questions. I am in char...'

'If you answered me the first fucking time, I wouldn't have demanded anything' I spat, completely interrupting him and cutting him off right in the middle of his little speech.

His eyes narrowed, he unfolded his arms, I caught glimpse of his nostrils flaring before he backhanded me.

The force knocked me aside, almost sending me tumbling from the bed completely.

I could taste blood in my mouth, I raised my hand to my face, dipping a finger into the large gash that had opened up on my lower lip, I held it up, examining my own blood.

Where there was usually a surge of anger-fueled chakra readying my body for battle – there was nothing but plain old anger itself, it was a strange sensation. I felt empty.

'Pff' I sneered, 'It was just a question, fucks sake'.

He reached forward quickly and snared my wrist in his left hand, his hands were so large that a single one was able to completely engulf my wrist, using it to yank me fiercely from the bed and hoist me up, he lifted his arm, making sure that my feet didn't touch the floor, my weight hung painfully on my shoulder joint making me squirm in his grip.

'I let you get away with too much when you were assigned to my team, letting you behave like an obnoxious brat, therefore I'm partially responsible for you being like this. If I ensured that you obeyed me and followed my command in the first instance this never would have happened' his expression shifted from one of a complete and utter desire to tear me to pieces before switching to the emotionless façade that indicated trouble lay ahead.

'Look. I got bored of being Pein's attack dog, that's all. I know you were told to bring me back' I offered, knowing full well it wouldn't alter his animosity towards me. We never really got on, we wound each other up to the point where we would often end up bickering and fighting between ourselves, these little spats usually resulted in one or both of us getting injured.

He turned, taking me with him, lowering me to the ground as he did so but maintaining his steel grip around my wrist; 'Pein ordered me to retrieve you, but before I drag your sorry ass back to Amegakure, I think it's time I established some rules' he said, nudging his free hand between my shoulder blades and encouraging me forwards.

I moved carefully in his grasp, unsure what he planned on doing. I took a few willing steps, he was moving me towards the corner of the room, I figured he was going to move me around the furniture and towards the centre of the room or something, but no. He continued to guide me towards the dark corner. My feet slipped against the ground as I started to resist the hand that pressed me forwards insistently, quickly finding the arm that he had in his grip twisted and pulled up my back sharply, causing a little grunt of discomfort to slip from my throat.

He gave a final heavy shove now that both his hands were at my back, my body crashed against the stone, my free hand being used as a shock absorber, albeit not a very effective one.

I felt crushed between his weight and the wall, my body pinned tightly into the corner by his monstrous frame, when we stood so close like this on level ground, the top of my head only came up to his sternum. The size difference was borderline ridiculous.

'Rule #1: You will do as I command – and right now I am ordering you to stand in this corner like the brat you are' he growled in his gritty baritone.

I growled back in frustration, twisting and squirming as much as I possibly could, letting anger flood my system, I shouted the stupidest thing I could have yelled in that predicament; 'Make me!'

He laughed loudly, he was standing so close to me that I could feel it, his laugh rumbled from his chest and resonated through me, 'As I expected' he said dryly.

'Eh?... What are y...you d..doing? I stuttered, caught completely off guard by what he did next. He removed his hand from between my shoulder blades and reached down, sliding his hand into the waistband of my underwear and sharply yanked them down.

I strained to glance over my shoulder at him, he crouched down a little, not relinquishing the vice like grip he had on the arm bent up my back as he pulled my underpants down to my ankles with the other, he slapped at an ankle, making me lift my foot so he could pull them completely free from me. My face burned with embarrassment and humiliation, I growled, turning my face back towards the wall so that he wouldn't see. He casually tossed them aside and stood back up to full height.

He let loose another rumble as he laughed again, 'Stunned silence...' he leaned in closer, '...didn't think you were the type'.

My face was flushed a deep red by a combination of humiliation and anger, I felt the hand gripping my wrist tighten a little, he was expecting a violent retaliation, so I gave him one.

I kicked against the wall with every ounce of strength, forcing my weight back against him; 'Fucking pervert!' I yelled, he shifted a little, but not much. I swore and threatened, screamed and yelled, lashing out behind me with my free arm, only to have it grabbed and painfully twisted up my back along with the other one, he wrapped both of my wrists into one of his over-sized hands and pinned them there, freeing up his right hand once again, which immediately fisted into the hair on the back on my head and forced my forehead against the cold stone wall. I was powerless to resist him with my chakra sealed away.

I tried kicking out behind me with donkey kicks, only to have him shift easily out of the way and lean more of his weight onto me, which made breathing difficult.

I yelled and swore for a whole ten minutes before I started to calm down, my body shaking lightly from the exertion and the damp coldness of the room biting against my sweat slicked skin.

The entire time, Kisame remained quiet, simply maintaining his hold of me as I wore myself out.

Having no chakra sucked.

Finally I was still and quiet, the only noise and movement being that of my carefully metered breathing. The fog of anger lifted, my rational senses returning to me. I could taste blood again, the metallic taste mingling with my saliva and making me spit it out.

'Before you kicked up a fuss, I was going to continue informing you of the rules. You were bound by them the instant I informed you of the first one, and whether or not you let me finish telling you exactly what they were, I still fully intend on punishing you for those that were broken during your little outburst' Kisame announced.

I screwed my eyes tightly shut, 'Punishment?' I whispered questioningly.

'Yes' he said, 'you need rules as you clearly can't be trusted to behave yourself, and you will be punished for breaking them and disobeying me... oh and if anybody is perverted, it's you for automatically assuming my actions were anything less than decent'.

'You pulled my pants off! What was I supposed to think!?' I argued.

'It'll hurt more this way, they would have gotten in my way...' he said darkly.

His tone of voice was blunt and to the point. It irritated me that he was treating me like a little kid, I growled. Fair enough he was almost twice my age, 'Whatever...that doesn't give you the right to treaAaaagh!'

I was cut off mid-rant as he sharply smacked the hand that had been tightly fisted into my hair down onto my ass. Once again, his actions stunned me into silence.

He laughed loudly 'I'll explain the rules later, but first I have two choices for you' he said, shifting his weight a little before continuing; 'Choice #1 – Comply and stand here quietly for a few hours with your hands on your head and then take 20 lashes. Choice #2 – Resist and I restrain you by force, you take as many lashes as you can before you pass out, and then I'll offer you the chance to cooperate again. Choose'

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, was he really threatening me like this... I could feel anger surge up within me, adrenaline pumped through my body.

'Five seconds or I'll automatically go with #2' he barked.

'Ksh!' I grunted from between sharply gritted teeth, I wouldn't let him break me. I can handle pain. I can take whatever he throws at me.

'Two seconds' he jarred me for a response.

I bit my lip harshly, and let tension in my shoulders drop; 'the first one' I said through still-gritted teeth.

He sniggered, 'Easy way for once huh?' before slowly easing his crushing grip on my wrists that up until now had been tightly and painfully clamped at my back.

The circulation returned to my hands and fingers, almost instantly the sensation of pins-and-needles flooded them; I flexed my fingers to help ease it.

He maintained a light grip on both my wrists as he guided them up to my head, 'Lock your fingers together' he said, releasing his grip completely as I complied.

I counted in my head slowly, 'One...Two...Three...Four...Five...Six...Seven...Eight...Nine...Ten...Eleven...Twelve...Thirteen...Fourteen...Fifteen...' and on the count of sixteen, I dropped my hands into a guard as I spun around, my next planned move was to duck and lunge, but it seemed I had overestimated Kisame's trust in me and found that he had anticipated this. _I'm such a fucking idiot..._ the colour drained from my face along with a fair chunk of my resolve as I realized that I was about to be on the receiving end of a point-blank ass kicking.

He was standing a few paces back with a lopsided grin on his face, his knees slightly bent, one powerful arm raised and ready to strike. I was barely able to move away from the corner more than a few inches before the readied arm thrust forwards and his hand clamped tightly around my throat, continuing its forcible thrust forwards, which succeeded in slamming me violently into the corner. The split second it took for him to smash me into the wall wasn't enough to do anything other than stare dumbly at him as he continued to drive his weight towards me at great velocity and force. I choked as the inertia of his weight still moving forwards crushed against my throat, spluttering out a strained growl, I screwed my face up in discomfort.

Seeing that stupid grin plastered across his face sent me over the edge, plunging what little rational thought remained to the back of my mind and allowing my animal hind-brain to take control, letting rip with an animalistic growl that racked my whole body and forced him into action.

Both of my hands were engaged in an effort to pry his hand from around my throat. I clawed and pried desperately as my windpipe was crushed and my lungs screamed out for air, I kicked out and landed a glancing strike to his guts, he just grinned evilly and laughed at my paltry chakra-less efforts.

He released when my eyes begun to roll in their orbits and no sooner had I pulled a gasp of air into my lungs, he drove a fist into my stomach, knocking it back out again.

He landed a blow to my side and once again grabbed a fistful of my hair in his fist and used it to slam my skull against the stone wall with a solid crack.

My vision was stripped of colour and tone, everything reduced to white, greys and black, my hearing was blotted out by a high pitched monotone – blood seeped from within my right ear, rendering me temporarily stunned.

Kisame released his grip as he noted I was wandering the thin line between conscious and unconscious. He let me slide down the wall and sit there breathless, bleeding and stunned in a heap, whilst he quickly darted across the room and grabbed at his cloak, pulling a scroll from within the lining and pulling the knot free with his teeth.

He threw the scroll out with one hand whilst nicking his thumb with his teeth and drawling blood to score across the parchment as it unfurled in mid air.

He slammed his palm to the scroll, making it slam against the floor in the process. A flash and a small wisp of smoke and the summon was complete.

He gathered up what he needed and brought it to me, crouching down in front of me.

My senses trickled back to me slowly. My hearing returned first, I could hear the distinct metallic clink and clatter of chain, but my brain wasn't yet willing to communicate with my body to tell it to move. My sight returned to normal next, but my brain was still not cooperating with my body. I pawed out clumsily and found that I had zero coordination, I slumped to the side and couldn't right myself. He had me in shackles before I could do anything about it.

My wrists were secured in heavy steel cuffs, linked by a short chain. My ankles were similarly restrained.

He stood up, placing a foot firmly on the chain that linked the wrist cuffs, just in case I was bluffing my stupor.

He snapped a length of chain into a fixed eye bolt that was hidden away in the dark crevice of the corner, high above me, he gave it a firm tug, testing its resilience and security – after all, it was a good long while since he had been pushed so far as to have to restrain anybody at the safe house.

Satisfied that it wasn't budging, he stepped off the chain and reached down, taking the chain in his right hand he hoisted me to my feet using it, both arms now dragged high above my head, he steadied the chain he had secured to the wall in his left hand and snapped the shackles to the link.

I staggered a little, the chain supporting most of my weight for a few minutes, my shoulders burned from bearing my weight unsupported.

I was now stretched out, unable to freely pull my limbs close to my body for protection from strikes, left naked and defenseless open entirely for him to mercilessly beat the crap out of me.

I let out a groan when I heard another item being summoned. He approached and stood closely behind me, I could feel the heat radiating from his body he was that close.

He reached around in front of my face and slapped at a cheek, 'Open your mouth' he prodded a finger sharply against my jaw painfully as he spoke.

I opened my mouth and he pushed a strip of leather between my teeth 'Bite down' he pressed upwards on my jaw with a hand until he felt my jaw clench.

I felt him move away, I broke out in a cold sweat the second I heard the crack of a whip break the air. I bit down hard into the leather and screwed my eyes shut tightly, willing my body not to betray my fear by shaking or twitching.

'Do you remember what I said earlier?' he rumbled, cracking the whip again, 'I said that if I had to force you, I'd lash you until you pass out. Although, I knew it would come to this with your temper'.

I'd been whipped before, but never more than 20 lashes, and never by somebody that threatened they wouldn't stop until I lost consciousness.

I expected him to continue lecturing me, making me wait in fear laced anticipation for the first lash, but he had surprised me a few times already with his actions, so it shouldn't have really come as a shock when the first searing strike struck flesh seconds after he finished his sentence.

I bit down as hard as I could into the leather, a throaty rasp of pain freeing itself from me as the whip struck again.

I composed myself, sucking air into my lungs in careful, deliberate breaths, trying in a desperate act of pride not to allow him to see that he was making me suffer.

He laughed, 'You're stubborn. But you'll break' he yelled in between reigning down blows on my back. The individual stabs of pain that littered by back slowly blended into one large burning mass of pain as the strokes begun to overlap one another.

I concentrated on breathing and tensing the muscles in my legs in an attempt to shift my focus.

The pain was creeping in though, slow at first, seeping into the forefront of my brain as I tried to push it back with everything I had.

'It's starting to get to you isn't it?' he laughed, aiming slightly lower, moving away from my shredded back and shoulders, striking my lower torso instead.

The skin was thinner and more sensitive here, I nearly screamed out loud as I felt the tip of the whip wrap around my side as it struck and tore open the skin beneath my floating ribs.

I felt a warm trickle of blood pulse from the slash and wander its way downwards, tickling the skin on my hip as it trailed its way towards the ground.

The searing pain of my upper back and shoulders flared in the background, demanding my full attention.

Kisame had clearly done this before. I groaned. _Why do I always get myself into shit like this?_

I let my imagination replace myself with various faceless others as I tried to suppress the growing urge to vocalise my pain and discomfort.

In my imagination I could see him, snapping out his wrist and drawing the whip back time and again, I could see him gauge the knotted braid of the whip in his hands, hefting it before striking out again. I wondered if I was having an out of body experience and could actually see him.

There was a small pause to enable him to tease and mock; 'It's getting to you isn't it, it's burning like fire. You might think you can handle it, but it'll eat away at you. Breaking you down little by little. I _will_ break you, even if it takes all night, I'm happy to indulge you' he chuckled lightly, I could imagine the crooked grin that was accompanying it.

I clenched my hands into fists, steadied myself on my feet, and lifted my head; spitting the leather strip from my mouth I calmly told him he could go fuck himself.

He roared a gritty laugh, 'I always liked your spirit Kiddo, it's almost a shame it'll be crushed beneath my boot by the time this is over' he let loose with another round of lashes, this time aimed for the buttocks and backs of my legs, the sharpness of the blows send an incredible snap of pain shooting upwards through my entire body – making me hop from leg to leg against my will.

I intermittently tensed and relaxed as the strikes landed. Minutes dragged by and I could feel the sting of sweat mingling into the fresh weeping cuts and lacerations. I bit down on my lip so hard that a trickle of blood spilled from it and dripped onto the floor beneath me, clearly visible for him to see. He paused momentarily, noticing the drips of blood close to the wall, a large smirk flourished across his face.

He knew that I had bitten clean through either my lip or my tongue in order to try and tamp down the pain, the urge to scream or writhe about.

'The leather was to prevent you from resorting to that...' he called, before letting a few particularly heavy slashes slice through already torn skin. My breath involuntarily hitched at the sensation.

I was glad that I was dripping sweat, the beads that trailed down my face disguised the fact that the occasional tear was slipping from my eyes.

The pain was really starting to get to me. It was getting more and more difficult to force it back from flooding into my consciousness like a raging torrent.

I had begun to tremble, my muscles aching and sore, my flesh broken, bruised, swollen and bleeding. Even my wrists were painful.

All of the pain was accumulating, from all over my body into one huge swirling vortex of agony.

I even cried out when I felt him turn his whip on the already marred skin of my upper back, the sensation of the whip slicing across weeping, already tortured flesh was too much. I let my weight hang on my arms and pulled my knees upwards, writhing in agony.

He noted the sudden change, seeing that I had been overwhelmed by the pain and was no longer able to resist it, he laid a rapid succession of them down across my back, it was too much to try and control myself any longer, the flood gates burst open completely. My consciousness was flooded with excruciating pain and involuntary panic started to set in as my brain released endorphins to try and combat the situation, mindlessly pulling and tugging at the restraints.

My body was racked with tremors, each lash tore a pained cry from my throat until it was hoarse and I could taste blood again.

He was as merciless as he had threatened though, continuing until my legs refused to support my weight and I hung from the shackles, blood trickled down my chin and dripped onto my chest. Lazy trickles of blood mingled with beads of perspiration born from the agony and left their trails marking my back, torso, backside and legs.

One last lash was thrown across my shoulders before my head hung forwards at an odd angle. He stayed the whip at his side, just watching for a minute or two, the only sounds were his breathing and the faint 'pat' 'pat' 'pat' of dripping blood hit the stone floor.

He flexed his wrists, setting the whip aside and moving closer to me – he reached out and pressed a large finger to my jugular, feeling my pulse – it was raging but steady.

He tapped at my cheek with the back of his hand. No response.

He reached up and released some slack from the chain above my head, supporting my body weight as he unclipped it, my chained hands dropping down heavily and slid his hands beneath my arms, lifting me so that I lay on my stomach with my arms beneath me.

He knew I wouldn't be regaining consciousness for a while, he took the opportunity to freshen up.

He splashed water on to his face and rubbed damp hands through his hair and across the back of his neck. The air was heavy with the stench of blood, sweat and fear.


	2. Chapter 2

All hail Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

Kisame moved back and reclined across the bed sideways, clasping his hands behind his neck as he stretched out, he mused that his young captive was incredibly stubborn and was just a little bit surprised to see him able to handle such barbaric punishment for quite so long.

But, the hard part was done, hopefully.

He was almost 100% positive that the reckless little idiot would cooperate and not put himself through that again for a long while. Kisame figured he would keep him in check by simply being as brutal with him as he promised he would.

He closed his eyes and dozed lightly, awakening about an hour and a half later at the sound of metal chain scraping across the stone floor.

He sat up, watching as the kid's body shook as he tried to move, each movement pulling at scabbing flesh and sending jolts of pain shooting through him.

He scraped himself into a position that didn't cause him too much pain, he was on all fours, and eventually managed to get into the kneeling position. He just knelt there, staring at the floor with a glazed look on his face, not remotely bothered by the fact that he was stark naked.

He looked completely dejected, but there was still that dangerous glint in his eyes indicating his temper was swimming close to the surface.

Kisame remained seated, resting his left hand loose in his lap and rested his right on his knee.

'Are you ready to start listening to me now, Kazou?' he asked of the pained looking figure before him, who through pained expression nodded.

'Right then...' Kisame said, slapping his right hand onto his knee for emphasis, '...the rules are as follows:

#1 You will do as commanded.

#2 You will not swear or make inappropriate gestures.

#3 You are forbidden from making threats of violence or acts of violence towards any member or associate of Akatsuki unless sparring or training.

#4 Failure to comply with any of the above shall result in punitive action being taken. Do you understand me?' his eyes studied the face of his young captive, noting the thick smear of dried blood down his chin, the reddened, tired eyes, the way he hung his head before nodding his understanding in silent defeat.

'You will address me as Kisame-Sama from now on. So I'll ask you to affirm your understanding for me once more...' his crooked grin returned with a vengeance watching Kazou drink it all in before replying in a hoarse voice, 'I understand...' a little flash of defiance in the form of a twisted smirk danced across the boy's face as he hesitated to address him as he had been told to, Kisame leaned forwards, about to backhand him again, but was stopped short of acting out on his impulse when the smirk faded and a hoarse voice managed to croak out '...Kisame-Sama'.

Kisame's grin returned, 'Good boy' he smirked, flashing razor sharp teeth as he did so, 'Now go stand in the corner Kiddo and be quiet until I tell you otherwise' he said.

He watched the boy carefully get to his feet before he stepped carefully over the twisted chain that secured his ankles and buried himself deeply in the corner, almost like he was trying to hide. His whole body was trembling slightly, probably going into shock.

'Put your hands on your head' Kisame added, leaning back on his elbows as he watched the boy comply, taking note of the condition he had left him in; his entire upper back was stained a deep red hue, streaks of black and purple were scattered across it, deep crimson gouges where skin was split or torn leaked small trails of blood, the occasional splatter from cross-lashes lay all over the tortured body. The lower torso was in a similar but less severe condition, showing up slightly less tearing, but harboured more swelling and bruising.

The buttocks and thighs were black and purple on top of an irritated red background, a multitude of deep wounds that would surely focus his mind on behaving himself the next time he sat down. Dried blood streaked down both legs. He stopped admiring his handiwork and reached across the bed to the small table and grabbed the tattered old book that was lying there, likely left by Kakuzu the last time he was at this particular safe house.

He thumbed through and started to read, figuring he would make the kid wait a couple of hours before allowing him to rest. Little brat deserved it, he mused.

He had read through several chapters, actually enjoying reading for once, glancing up occasionally and casting a critical eye over his young cohort obediently standing, noting that the shivering had subsided and that he was continuing to do as he had been told for the first time in a very long time. Kisame smiled and returned to reading, his eyes getting itchy and tired after several more chapters, he rubbed at them with the back of his hand.

He noted that the boy was getting fidgety, shifting his weight from foot to foot and wringing his fingers together so forcefully that the chain clicked.

Kisame closed the cover of the book and set it aside, he stood up, stretching fiercely and popping his back. 'Problem, Kazou?' he demanded, folding his arms across his chest as he watched the boy fidget and squirm. Kisame sighed as he scrutinised the restless form in front of him, some of the wounds were weeping, others bled – but that was a good sign, they were starting to heal. Even without chakra, the kid sure did heal quickly.

'I asked you a question' he snapped, noting that the boy visibly flinched when he raised his voice, it brought a toothy grin back to his face.

'Nnnngh...sorry...I...n... need to pee' came back a shaky statement.

'All you needed to do was ask for permission' Kisame said.


	3. Chapter 3

All hail Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

There was a strained silence for thirty seconds that felt like an age.

I could feel him staring at me, I hated this. I fucking hated it. But if I wanted to get out of here and get away from him, then I needed to cooperate with him and do as he asks for the time being.

'Please can I go pee?' I asked, definitely feeling like I needed to pee, but not as urgently as I was making out. A heavy hand made contact with the back of my head in a sharp swat; 'Forgetting something?' it urged.

'So...rry... Ki...Kisame-Sama' I stuttered, hitching my breath when his hand gripped my shoulder, 'Put your hands down in front of you' he said as he shifted, wrapping a hand around my left bicep to guide me.

I felt ridiculous, allowing this power crazed brute to treat me like this, but for now he definitely had the upper hand. I had to placate him until we returned to the main headquarters and if I survived Pein's wrath, have somebody familiar with sealing techniques remove this god-damned seal that bound my chakra and I could once again ditch him and ultimately, them, at the earliest opportunity.

He walked me to the small bathroom and to my annoyance, stayed with me.

I could have burst out laughing and made a crack about him enjoying watching boys in the bathroom – but I didn't. I so badly wanted to make fun of him and tease him, wind him up, get him angry then laugh at him for getting worked up over it.

'Can't go with me standing here huh' he cackled, making me snap my thoughts back to concentrating on the task in hand.

A small snigger slipped out as I caught my unspoken pun, I tried concealing it wish a cough, but he had heard it.

'Must be feeling better then' he quipped, his voice regaining that musical quality it usually possessed as he spoke.

I managed to pee, despite having an audience, and managed to stifle my laughter at the absurdity of the whole situation. I think I'd have preferred it if Pein had sent him to just kill me after all.

He ushered me back in to the bedroom, and back to the spot on the floor in the corner.

'Make yourself comfortable' he said. I was unsure if this was him making fun of me or not.

Kneeling was the only position I could tolerate, sitting on my ass wasn't an option, nor was leaning against anything. I guessed he wanted to talk to me, else I'd have lay on my stomach.

He sat on the edge of the bed, the worn mattress giving under his weight and the wooden bed frame creaking slightly; 'Lets talk' he said, resting both hands on his knees.

'What's there to talk about?' I said, noting his head tilt slightly and his eyes narrow in annoyance.

'When I say talk, I want you to listen to what I have to say' he said, a less-pissed off expression now on his face, 'Oh, and if you talk out of turn or forget to address me correctly again, you'll regret it'.

I swallowed a lump in my throat as he held up his hand and gestured a back-hand motion, indicating I would likely be getting it smacked right across my face again if I continued to be as awkward as I liked to be, I really didn't want any more pain right now; I muttered; 'Sorry, Kisame-Sama'.

He leaned back on his hands with a wry smile, 'Pein offered to spare your life' he said, tilting his head back and staring at the ceiling as he spoke, 'He ordered that I find you and offer you two choices, choice #1 was to accept a punishment and return under sanctions to the organisation, choice #2 was a dishonourable death by my hands' he glanced back down and could see that I looked confused.

I hadn't been offered those particular choices. I was offered punishment or more punishment.

'I know how you are, so I didn't offer you those choices because you would have had a fit and made me kill you anyway. It was safer for me to choose on your behalf, given the situation you were in when I caught up to you'

No doubt about it, I had been in a bit of a pinch when he showed up, having been ambushed, surrounded and running low on viable options for survival after fending off several Hunter-nin for an extended period, a single kunai in my hand and nothing but cocky determination left.

Thinking back, I was glad he had intervened. I would rather die by his hands than theirs.

I nodded in silent appreciation of the thought he had given in his effort to spare me the dishonour.

'You need to understand that I won't allow you to choose death' he shifted his weight.

The statement made me a little uncomfortable, shinobi weren't supposed to talk like this.

I wanted to ask him his reasons why, why he would want to save my life, why he felt the need to protect me, to make sure I couldn't force his hand, to go so far as to put me in the position I found myself in right now.

He read my expression; 'If anybody gets to decide when and how you die...it's me' he said, instantly washing away any illusion I may have had of him secretly wanting to protect me, I me scowled at his words, which made him smile.

'...anyway' he continued, 'Pein instructed that if you chose option #1 that you were to be severely punished. I think your body is marred enough to satisfy that requirement when he undoubtedly looks you over to see that I carried out my duties. You'll be under sanctions though when we get back, which is why you're going to have to get used to the fact that those four rules I issued you with, will be the way you're going to live your life for a long time. You'll be locked up or kept under constant supervision when you're not required, so don't be surprised and kick up a fuss when it happens – your life is no longer your own'

He was explaining to me that life as I knew it was over. For the foreseeable future anyway.

'Pein appointed me as your Master, and I won't go easy on you as you can see. We'll head out tomorrow at first light, probably make it to Ame for nightfall. I hope you're looking forward to your reunion with everybody' he stood up, moving over to where I knelt. He retrieved the length of chain that still hung from high up on the wall and secured it to a previously unseen bolt on the floor, and then pulled my cuffed hands towards it and snapped the locking pin around one of the links in the chain, tethering me to the floor.

He was going to keep me on a short leash, literally. I sighed and awkwardly shifted until I could lie on my stomach. The stone floor was chilled, but not cold enough for it to be unbearable on my naked flesh.

I rested my head on one of my arms and watched as he rolled onto the bed and with a snap of his fingers the lamp that lit the room was snuffed out, plunging the room into darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

All hail Mashashi Kishimoto

A/N: Also, sorry this one's short - I have a splitting headache and the tablets that gave me make me feel sick.

* * *

Kazou woke up shivering, curled up tightly in a ball on the left side of his body that felt less damaged than the right. The temperature had really dropped. He didn't have to endure shivering for too long as Kisame had begun to stir; he snapped his fingers and the oil lamp flared brightly before settling into a steady light source.

He stretched and yawned loudly, sitting up and stretching again.

He practically leapt out of bed and headed to the bathroom, Kazou pulled himself together and eased up onto his knees. The pain stabbed at him as he moved, it was intense but bearable.

Kisame seemed energetic considering it was probably still dark outside, he pulled on his hip pouches and tugged on his cloak before crossing the room to where the boy knelt.

'You look like hell' he laughed, crouching down and releasing the ankle shackles, along with the length of chain that had served as a tether during the night, leaving the wrist restraints alone. He pulled out the scroll and reversed the summon, readying their use for next time.

He shoved both hands under Kazou's arms and lifted him to his feet as he stood up, setting him down lightly. 'Go pee' he said, allowing him to pad across the room and use the bathroom without watching over him like a hawk.

Kazou finished up and returned to where he had previously been standing and waited.

'Suppose I can't really drag you through the streets naked now can I?' He pointed to the other corner, where the underwear had been thrown yesterday before he commenced with his punishment; 'Go put your pants on' he said as he tucked the scroll back inside his cloak.

Kazou padded barefoot over to where they lay, mindful that the simple task of pulling on a pair of pants would be hindered by his cuffed wrists and the fact it would hurt like hell when the fabric rubbed against his injuries.

He winced as he pulled them up, feeling them brush over the lacerations on his legs, and then scrape over the multiple sores and open gashes that covered his ass.

He turned to see Kisame holding up his trousers in one hand, a kunai in the other – watching as he turned them into shorts by slicing off the lower legs before he threw them across to him, that alone would stop the loose fabric from rubbing against the slashes that criss-crossed his legs.

The boy took the hint to pull them on silently, padding over to where Kisame stood, who kicked his shinobi-boots towards him, he slipped them on, 'I'll keep hold of your shirt' he said, 'It'll only get stuck to your back anyway' tucking it into his waistband and letting it hang down beneath his cloak.

He picked up his great blade, Samehada, and slung it over his shoulder. He pushed open the door to the bedroom and gestured that his young prisoner follow him, snapping his fingers and plunging the room into darkness once more.

Kazou walked behind him as they exited the safe house, pausing to allow his captor to release the seal that blocked the exit. On the other side the breeze felt amazing, the cool early morning air halting the searing pain temporarily as it brushed against his exposed skin.

Kisame replaced the seal and nudged the daydreaming boy with his arm as he stepped past him.

Kazou watched him walk for a few seconds before he started following him, having to take a few large steps to catch up to him before walking at his side; 'You're quiet for once' Kisame glanced down and chuckled to himself, watching the boy walk alongside him for a minute or two before he switched his attention back to the road ahead.


	5. Chapter 5

All hail Masashi Kishimoto:

A/N: I think the nursing staff think I'm insane - I woke up in the middle of the night, pulled my laptop under the covers and started writing, occasionally chuckling to myself and then grimacing as laughing makes my head hurt :( bad times

* * *

The sun rose in the sky as we walked, and the heat started to radiate down, warming the landscape. The mild warmth coupled with a pleasingly cool breeze made me smile a little, and took my mind off the grinding pain caused by what little clothing I was wearing rubbing against my cuts and bruises.

We walked for a few hours without seeing another soul, until in the distance Kisame had picked up that there were a few people working in fields and going about life in general.

We were going to pass fairly close by one or two small outpost villages on our way back to Ame, but nobody would dare give a second glance to the monstrous shinobi with what looked like a battered and mutilated slave in tow.

'There are people up ahead' he announced, reaching beneath his cloak and pulling a canteen from his hip. He swigged water from it and offered it to me. I gladly took it and drank greedily – I was parched.

'Do you remember the rules Kiddo?' he asked, glancing down at me. I nodded, I felt like arguing with him over the rules and the fact I hated it when he called me Kiddo – there were only four damn rules, how difficult was it to remember four fucking rules! I repressed the urge to argue and nodded that I remembered.

'Say them out loud so I can hear you' he held out his hand motioning for his canteen to be returned to him, I handed it back, he took another large gulp of water and his hand disappeared beneath his cloak with it.

I sighed audibly, rolling my eyes, 'Rule One: I must do as you command. Rule Two: I am forbidden from swearing or making rude gestures. Rule Three: I'm not allowed to threaten violence or be violent towards you or any Akatsuki member or associate. Rule Four: My failure to comply with any of the rules means that you'll punish me severely' I glanced up, watching his face for a reaction, my rendition hadn't been 100% verbatim of his version, but I was sure it was close enough to what he expected. I caught a glimpse of his famous toothy grin. He seemed satisfied with that; 'Rule #1 is more complicated than it seems at first, a vague statement really isn't it...' he said.

I studied his expression, searching for a clue to what he meant.

'...what have I commanded so far?' he questioned, I thought back to the mornings events, and the previous day:

_Hmm... well, he ordered me to stand in the corner yesterday, then he called me a brat and I got angry...then he nearly knocked me out and chained me whilst he beat the hell out of me 'til I blacked out... then he made me stand in the corner anyway... then he gave me a lecture about him going on a power trip and making my life miserable... shit, I take back what I said about the rules being simple... um... then he watched me pee... then... then what did he do? He made me sleep on the floor... then it was morning, and then we were walking and then it was now, and now we're here and he's asking me to tell him what things he's commanded me to do under Rule One... Shit I can't think...my head still hurts from being smashed into the fucking wall yesterday... wouldn't surprise me if my skull was fucking fractured..._

'I'm waiting' he said, breaking my jumbled train of thought, I cleared my throat a little, 'You told me that I had to ask if I needed to use the rest-room...'

He reached up and scratched his face 'and...'

'… and... um... that if anybody decides when and how I die, it's you...' I offered, still racking my brain.

'That's not an order though is it' he said, stopping and turning to me, 'I told you that as a matter-of-fact. You're forgetting two more things'

I glanced around nervously, feeling a little trapped in his glare. There were farmers picking fruit in a field to our left, I could see further along the road that it forked and jutted off towards the outpost village. I stared at the thick leather strap that held the Samehada in place over his brawny shoulder, the heavy metal buckle was matt with age and faint scratches were etched across every part of it, the leather was fraying at the edges slightly from years of rubbing and use, I lifted my hands and scratched my own face, 'um... oh, I remember now, that I wasn't to speak out of turn' risking a momentary glance upwards into amused eyes.

'You're close, just one more' he said staring intently at me, I shifted from foot to foot before I tried a different tactic, 'I'm sorry but I can't remember, please tell me again' hoping that would keep him happy. 'Gladly' he said, the smile on his face deceiving me, I was caught completely off guard as he sunk a punch into my gut. I reeled backwards, being saved from tumbling onto my injured back on the dirt road by him quickly grabbing at an arm and pulling me in close, I had to stand up on my toes to ease the pain of his hand squeezing at my arm painfully.

I wheezed, trying to draw breath. He had winded me badly, if he hadn't been holding me up, I'm positive I would have collapsed to my knees.

'Under rule number one, I commanded that you ask my permission if you needed to relieve yourself – the generalisation of this being that I want you to ask permission before doing anything at all. Next was the order to not speak out of turn – the generalisation of this being that you are not to speak unless spoken to, and finally, the one you're struggling to remember, was that you were told to address me as Kisame-Sama – this is the last thing I should hear when you finish speaking. Got it?' he pulled me upwards by the arm as he leaned in, if he would have let go at that instant, I'd have tumbled onto the ground. But he didn't, he maintained a painfully tight grasp of my bicep, pulling at me until I caught my breath and choked out my confirmation; 'Y...yes, Kisame-Sama'.

He released my arm, I steadied myself, clutching at my sore abdominals. From the corner of my eye, I could see the farmers trying their best to pretend like they hadn't just witnessed the event as Kisame shot them a glare.

He resumed walking, I trotted after him, glad when my stomach stopped cramping from the abuse it had just received.

He kept his gaze firmly fixed on the road ahead, 'Start again, and don't miss anything out this time or I'll take my belt to you right here on this road – I don't care who's watching'.

I winced at the thought, clearing my throat again; 'Rule Number One: I will do as you command, I will ask permission before doing anything, I will not speak unless spoken to, and I will address you respectfully as Kisame-Sama. Rule Number Two: I'm forbidden from swearing or making inappropriate gestures. Rule number Three: I am forbidden from threatening violence or being violent towards you or any member or associate of Akatsuki, unless it is for training. Rule Number Four: My failure to comply with any rule will result in severe punishment, Kisame-Sama'

I looked up at him again, the smile was still plastered across his face, his eyes flicked down to me before returning to studying the road; 'Good boy. Itachi-San will be pleased that you have the capacity to learn after all'.

I felt a little relieved that he was satisfied, but at the same time I felt ridiculous for being pleased about the fact I hadn't angered him. Maybe this man would succeed in breaking me after all... I shook the notion from my head, and instead counted the trees that lined the road to take my mind off it.

His talk of Itachi rubbed me up the wrong way a little, Itachi was partnered up with Kisame and when Pein had added me to their unit as a temporary addition until I could prove myself before I would ultimately be assigned a permanent partner of my own, Itachi had inflicted terrible pain upon me to ensure my compliance, but in a much more terrifying way – he had used a visual jutsu on me.

His dojutsu had forced me to still my temper and reign in my destructive nature around the two, and Itachi quickly became the voice of reason and tended to spoil my fun and intervene, preventing me from winding up Kisame.

I never did get around to proving myself, aside from a few demonstrations of my unique abilities that attracted their attention to me in the first place – I never graduated from their supervision and tutelage, growing weary of being treated like a child after six months of supervision, and during the first major scuffle that saw them both occupied – made my escape amidst the chaos. Up until that moment, I had never abandoned them or a fight, despite the fact that my being there had been technically against my will in the first place.


	6. Chapter 6

All hail Masashi Kishimoto:

A/N: Slightly food orientated chapter, I'm hungry and hospital slop just doesn't do it for me :s

* * *

Another couple of hours passed by in dreary countryside, passing a handful of people every few miles, some of them suddenly finding great interest in the sky or the road or some lint in their pockets rather than look directly at either of us, others made no attempt to hide their gawking and one of two were vocally commenting on either Kisame's stature or guessing what my story was; 'Bet you he was a run away slave' one chirped, 'Nah, look at his back. He's got to be a criminal – nobody whips slaves like that, besides the big fella kinda looks like a bounty hunter' the other added, their voices fading as they got further and further away from us.

I inwardly laughed, if only they knew that we were both criminals, both missing-nin from our respective nations, both S-Rank traitors, both dangerous, bloodthirsty mercenaries that belonged to the fringe-group Akatsuki.

We approached a small cluster of huts, nestled amongst them was a tea-shop, Kisame wrapped a hand around the leather of the strap securing the great blade to his back and lifted it off over his shoulder. He veered off the road and placed Samehada against the wall of the tea shop, settling his large frame on to one of the benches outside the shop canopy.

I realised he had stopped and stood there dumbly in the middle of the road for a few seconds before he beckoned me over to him with a hand gesture.

I approached him and he pointed to the floor beside him; 'Kneel' he simply said, slapping the wall twice with a large hand, reclining himself against the wall and letting it bear his weight.

I dropped to my knees and found myself resting my forehead against the wall.

I heard a sharp intake of breath, an indication of surprise, then a small stutter before the proprietor of the tea house managed to compose herself 'Good afternoon sir, may I take your order'

I could hear the nervousness in her voice, but she handled the situation fairly well considering the sight she had been met with – a fearsome looking shinobi with a horrendously tortured prisoner kneeling at his side like an obedient dog.

He ordered a pot of tea, some Ankan, and asked for his water canteen to be refilled.

She politely bowed and scurried off, sending an attendant back with the refilled canteen within minutes, the attendant bowed and disappeared back under the canopy into the shop.

My guess was that she had been sent to satisfy her curiosity of the two men outside the shop, likely the older woman had voiced her observations the instant she had gone into the kitchen to prepare the tea and plate up some Ankan. Gossip travelled quickly.

Five or so minutes passed, the only sounds were that of birds chirping and a faint breeze brushing dust around. The older woman returned and set down the pot of tea and the plate of Ankan for him to help himself to. She set down a single clay cup for him and bowed.

She was about to scurry off again when Kisame's gruff voice halted her in her tracks – 'Please bring another cup'. She let a nervous little smile twitch at the corner of her mouth 'Of course Sir'.

She disappeared, quickly returning, the smile on her face a little more relaxed, almost as if the knowledge that he planned on sharing the tea with his captive made him somehow less of a monster.

He let the tea steep for a few minutes, enjoying the rest himself.

I heard the bench creak under his weight as he moved into a more upright position to pour the tea.

I was disappointed with myself for getting a little bit excited when I heard him ask for another cup.

'Here' he said, I lifted my head off the wall and turned to see him offering me a clay cup. I shuffled backwards slightly to enable me to reach for it with cuffed hands and took it from him, cupping the warmth in my hands before gently blowing across the top and taking a tentative sip. It wasn't too hot, it was nice.

He munched on a large Ankan, washing it down with gulps of tea, he caught me looking at him and chuckled to himself when I averted the gaze that had been hungrily eyeing his food.

He sighed upon hearing my stomach growl and picked up another bun from the heaped plate he had been offered, extending a hand and holding the bun in front of my face; 'Take it' he said.

I set the clay cup down on the floor between my knees, and took the bun from him, I forced myself not to cram the whole thing in my mouth at once I was so hungry. The last time I had eaten anything was back at the Inn in Fire Country two or three days ago.

My hunger temporarily abated, I washed it down with the last of my tea and handed the cup back. He ate another bun and drained the tea pot before pulling a crumpled wad of money from his pocket and trapping a few notes beneath the pot so that it wouldn't blow away on the breeze.

He grunted as he stood up, slinging the great blade back over his shoulder, 'Come on' he tapped at my feet with one of his own to get me to move.

I stood up just as the proprietor returned to clear the table, she stopped and politely bowed.

Kisame smirked, giving me a heavy handed nudge with his arm; 'What do you say, Kazou-kun?'.

I stuttered a little, feeling like a scolded child; 'Thank you' and bowed to the woman, who looked surprised at the action, the I turned a little towards him and bowed, 'Thank you also, Kisame-Sama'.

I felt like an idiot, but it kept him happy, he headed back out onto the road, and I trailed behind him a little, nursing my bruised ego.

We reached the Ame border in less than an hour and a half, I knew that we were only two hours away from our final destination at best.

Kisame drew a deep breath of the Ame air into his lungs, tasting the dampness, we would soon be walking through persistent rain, as was pretty much standard given that it was Rain Country after all.

I wasn't looking forward to getting rain water in my cuts, it was going to sting.

'I want you to use the remaining time left to think very carefully about those rules' he said, shifting his gaze onto me as he spoke.

He sounded like a teacher reminding a disruptive child why they had gotten into trouble.

'You'll be brought before Lord Pein, I want you on your knees, bowing, asking for his forgiveness before anything else. Understand?'

My stomach churned at the thought of having to grovel at Pein's feet and beg for forgiveness, I ground my teeth together, 'I understand, Kisame-Sama'.

We trudged onwards in silence for a while. The rain was starting up. I could feel the odd fleck strike my bared skin. I had visions of Pein summoning the rain – he likely already knew we were close.

'You're also probably going to get it pretty rough from the others too' he said, pulling the collar of his cloak up as the odd spot of rain struck the ground here and there.

I figured as much, I had abandoned the organisation and turned my back on their efforts. The only thought that made me feel any better about that particular fact was that some of them would be away on missions, meaning I wouldn't have to endure their vicious personalities all at once.

The spots of rain were getting heavier, more and more of the ground was becoming dashed by little droplets of water. Droplets crashed onto my bare skin and rolled off Kisame's cloak.

I was going to get soaked. Not that he cared in the slightest.


	7. Chapter 7

All hail Masashi Kishimoto:

A/N: spelling and grammar probably suffered in this one - apologies, but I reckon 40mg of sedatives will do that to anyone (It was the middle of the night when I wrote this and the nursing staff felt that I really ought to be in bed and not sitting on the floor with my laptop "messing on the interweb" as they said... I feel my mood found its way into this one, feeling a little trapped at the moment and all)

* * *

Before long we were walking through a wall of rain amidst dense structures that dominated the skyline, the rain sounded like white noise as it reverberated off the tall buildings and industrial looking structures of Ame.

People in the street completely ignored our presence, clearly used to the comings and goings of various Akatsuki in this secretive land.

We entered the tallest building near the centre of Amegakure, the rain dripping form the hem of Kisame's cloak and pouring from my hair, skin and what little clothing I had left. My wet hair was plastered to my head.

I was glad to be out of the torrential downpour, it had chilled my body past what was comfortable and goosebumps had risen, the steel shackles were cold against my skin too. The links clinked together as I rubbed at my arms subconsciously to try and abate the shivering.

We walked through the grand foyer, rode the elevator and then made out way through the maze of hallways and rooms on the upper levels, making our way steadily closer to where Pein liked to pass the time – he was often found sitting out on the decorative adornments beyond his office window, watching over the city, watching the rain batter down.

As we made our way along the final vast corridor, I could see a figure lurking in the shadows of a wide circular vent, as we got closer a gleam of red was visible. It was Itachi, he was leaning lightly against the concrete, his left arm slung through his cloak, his eyes piercing my own. He spoke in his soft, emotionless tone; 'Welcome back, Kisame', who nodded in acknowledgement and we continued towards the central office.

Pein was predictably sitting outside, he rose upon hearing us enter, Kisame nudged his body against mine, I took a few steps forward and dropped to my knees, resting my weight on my hands, the chain clattering on the polished flooring. I bowed my head and saw rainwater dripping from my hair and pooling on the floor in tiny puddles, I waited until the unmistakeable feeling of the Rinnegan settled upon me before I tried to apologise; 'I am sorry' the words were thick and rolling from my tongue, I felt like I had to spit them out. Apologising to him felt wrong.

I couldn't help but get angry, clenching my jaw and grinding my teeth together, knowing it would go unseen as I was bowing, the anger swamped my brain, and on an impulse I decided to take back control over my fate, tearing it back from Kisame against his will; 'I am sorry you ever fucking brought me here in the first place' I lifted my head, letting my defiance be seen in the form of a stupid grin plastered across my face.

I stared at Pein, his face expressionless. Kisame stepped closer and laid a boot into my ribs, sending me sprawling out across the floor. I coughed and sucked air into my breathless lungs, he had winded me again, a fist drove into my face as I looked up, splitting my lip open again and making me bite my tongue in the process. My mouth filled with blood, I spat it out, leaving a crimson smear around my lips, my split tongue flooded my mouth with blood, I let it pour freely down my chin and drip onto the floor.

I was dragged to my feet by the hair and wrapped in two burly arms, one bracing against my arms, the other around my neck. My back securely pinned to Kisame's stomach. I laughed, accepting of the fact I was likely to die any moment now. Kisame's cloak rubbed against my injuries as he pinned me, but at this point I was too far gone to care about it.

Pein stepped closer, my vision blurred around the edges. I blinked and tried to steady my breathing, the blur got worse, gradually the colours started to shift, and the contrast faded in and out.

I stared past his gaze, they flickered before the pale hue of the Rinnegan was flooded and replaced by a crimson Sharingan. My smile faded, the look of smug defiance draining from my face to be replaced with one of uncertainty.

I flinched in Kisame's grip, he tightened his grip as he rumbled a low snarl of warning for me to be still.

Pein's hand reached out and cupped my chin, lifting my gaze to his – as I stared, his features altered gradually morphing until all that was left was Itachi.

'When?' I whispered, realising that I had been caught in his Genjutsu.

'From the moment you set eyes on him' Kisame laughed, 'Itachi predicted your anger would get the better of you and you'd screw up. That's why we planned this out in advance'.

I hung my head, partially in annoyance at being played so easily, and partially in defeat, 'Damn it' I muttered under my breath.

Itatchi spoke up; 'You will try again, as many times as is necessary until you get it right. You will not be able to distinguish Genjutsu from reality with your chakra sealed. You will go in there, remain calm and offer your apologies to Lord Pein sincerely from your knees, with your head bowed'

I scowled at him, 'Never' I hissed.

'For every failed attempt, you will be subjected to three hours of Tsukoyomi' he said calmly.

'As well as the punishment you'll be getting from me along with it' Kisame sneered.

'I suggest that you behave yourself and get it over with quickly' Itachi informed me, brushing a loose strand of hair from his face as he spoke.

I had been put under a full Tsukoyomi when I was first recruited because I had resisted so strongly, apparently there had been debate as to whether or not I would regain consciousness afterwards.

The memory of it still haunted me in my dreams to this day. It was without a doubt, the worst torture I had ever experienced, the most intense pain, the most searing agony. The vivid memory possessed me as it if had just happened – my body shivering against my will at the mere thought of it, I clenched my hands into fists and tensed against Kisame's hold on me.

'Fine' I quietly agreed, 'I don't know what you two are planning, but I'll go along with it...' I bit my lip, ashamed by the fact I actually felt fear, '...but please, don't use Tsukoyomi on me, please...Itachi'

He gazed upon me with dull eyes, unflinching as ever, and as always, unprepared to show mercy; 'Three hours as promised for your first failed attempt, I suggest that you don't fail again and make it six' he said, brushing away another strand of hair before disappearing back into the shadows.

Kisame released his crushing grip and dragged me away by the arm towards Pein's office, as I glanced back over my shoulder to where Itachi had stood. I felt almost claustrophobic, trapped and berated everywhere I turned, given no option but to comply and mindlessly obey.

Kisame's hand reached out and pressed the door open, leading me across the highly polished floor and to the centre of the room. The air was crisp and cool, the large balcony revealed Pein sitting outside, watching over his city, the wind blowing inside, bring the moisture with it. He never seemed to care though.

Itachi was right, I had no way of knowing whether this was real or still just an illusion. I didn't want to earn another three hours trapped in hell just to find out, and had to assume that it was another Genjutsu test that could be ended at any moment, earning me more torment and anguish. To me, there really was a pain worse than death, and it was called Tsukoyomi.

Pein stood up and stepped back inside, this time I didn't even need Kisame to nudge me, I found myself dropping to my hands and knees and hanging my head automatically; 'Please forgive my indiscretions and I am sorry for the trouble I have caused you... do as you please with me, Lord Pein, as I am at your mercy'

I felt sick, but not from being forced into becoming a grovelling sap, but by the haunting memory of the Tsukoyomi. I was positive that Pein could do much worse than that to me, but he hadn't ever presented to me as anything other than a cool and collected leader, leaving the others to carry out his will, and for that reason, I was more afraid of Itachi and Kisame than of him in that instant.

'I trust that he has been suitably punished, Kisame?' Pein spoke as he leaned against the edge of his desk. 'Yes, within hours of me catching up to him. Would you care to inspect my work Lord Pein?' Kisame drawled.

Pein must have signalled that he wanted to cast a critical eye over me because Kisame ordered me to my feet, 'Strip and turn around' he barked once I was standing upright.

I didn't want to waste any time trying to carefully remove my clothes, instead choosing to just take a deep breath as I kicked off my boots and pulled my shorts down in one quick movement. I gritted my teeth together as the wet waistband grazed over my flesh, letting the soggy material drop to my ankles and bunch up.

'Very thorough as always, Kisame' Pein said clearly examining the practised craftsmanship that had gone into the destruction of my body.

'You appear to have him under control also, which is refreshing to see, given his attitude in the past...' I heard Pein shift away from his desk and step closer, '...anything outstanding?' he questioned. The only redeeming thought I could conjure up to save me from the crushing shame I was feeling, was the fact that this was likely the one and only chance anybody had ever had, ever, to bear their ass to Pein and not find themselves thrown through the nearest window as a consequence.

'Yes' Kisame answered, 'He has outstanding punishments for non-compliance of recently imposed rules'

The talk of rules piqued Pein's interest, 'Rules you say?'.

Kisame grinned, 'Yes, just four. He is already bound by them' he cast a glance at me from the corner of his eye, 'Would you like to hear them?'.

'Naturally' Pein replied, returning to lean against the edge of his desk.

Kisame's harsh tone startled me, he was almost yelling at me; 'Hands on your head!'

I threw my hands to my head in an instant, wondering where he was going with this pointless little farce, proving to Pein that he had me under his thumb.

'Turn around' I obeyed, but desperately wanted the earth to open up and swallow me whole to save me the humiliation of standing before them both as naked as the day I was born. I could cope when I had my back to them, but this made my skin crawl.

'Inform Lord Pein of your rules' came another clipped order.

I rattled off the rules, stuttering here and there, but otherwise relaying an accurate rendition of the rules and additional sub-rules.

Kisame was more than pleased, 'Good boy...' he withdrew a Kunai from his hip pouch, holding it out towards me, '...a demonstration of his obedience'

One corner of Pein's mouth curled into an almost imperceptible smirk, he knew that if I was going to show my true colours, it would be now.

I looked into Kisame's face, unsure of his intent. He thrust the Kunai closer towards me with the statement 'Take it'.

I reached out with both cuffed wrists and grasped the handle, taking the weapon from him.

'Now, I want you to slice it across your heart diagonally' he said, running a finger across his own chest to demonstrate before folding his arms and watching me, 'Make the cut deep. I want it to leave a scar' he announced, flashing his teeth in the process.

I raised the Kunai, altering my grip so that the tip pointed towards myself, I positioned the edge above my heart to the left and pressed the tip down firmly, feeling the skin break, I held my breath and dragged the edge of the blade downwards diagonally across my heart, finishing the cut below and to the right, taking a deep breath once I was finished.

Pein observed this display of obedience with a new-found admiration for Kisame's methods.

A trickle of blood meandered along the wound, before spilling free of the torn flesh and trickling down my stomach. I managed to maintain a neutral, passive expression on my face as the pain bit in, the only betrayal of my true feelings at that moment were a few tears that slipped silently down my face.

'Again, this time in the other direction, make a cross' Kisame ordered, once again demonstrating the intended cut by drawing his finger across his own chest. With slightly shaky hands, I gripped the Kunai until my knuckles were white and raised it again, pressing the blade into the skin above my heart to the right this time, pushing down on it until the pressure was enough to part the skin, I sunk it in deeper, slicing through the skin and tissue that lay beneath the surface before dragging it down in a diagonal movement again, feeling it snag on the skin as it crossed the other incision and ended the cut below my heart to the left. A few more tears streaked down my left cheek, collecting beneath my nose and my chin before dripping silently to the floor.

Blood oozed from this incision, sending two separate streaks of it down my chest and stomach.

Kisame held out a hand, a silent order to return the Kunai, I handed it back, taking the opportunity to cover my genitals with my hands before I cast my eyes to the floor, wondering what he would demand of me next.

'Do you know what that marking symbolises, Kazou?' Pein enquired of me.

'No, Pein-Sama' I whispered through shaky breath.

'It symbolises that you have not only betrayed the village and nation of your birth, but that you repeated your betrayal with those that offered you a second chance. Anyone who casts their eyes upon that marking, will recognise you as the reckless traitor you are. You can cast aside your slashed hitae-ate and hide from your true nature, but you will never be able to hide from that marking. I was going to brand you with it myself before allowing you to serve me again...' he pushed off his desk and stepped towards me, '...but it seems Kisame had planned this as a test of your willingness to obey, even if that obedience meant turning a blade on yourself in order for him to prove his point' he stopped within an arms length.

He reached out towards my face with his right hand, catching the tears that streaked down my cheek on his index finger, they pooled at the tip, he lowered his hand and run the tear coated finger along the incisions, repeating the action two more times, making sure that I felt the nip of the salt in my wound.

'If it were not for the simple fact that you possess a rare ability, you would already be dead for attempting to oppose me...I can see the pain in your eyes, I can see how tortured you are on the inside. You have experienced suffering, and from that suffering you will learn' he said, lifting my chin with the same finger, now a little bloodied from rubbing along my chest.

There was no emotion in those eyes, the Rinnegan was hard to read at the best of times, '...I am satisfied with your demonstration of obedience. You will serve me again under the command of Kisame – you are nothing more than a useful tool to me from now on, you will never again stand alongside your comrades as an equal. Do you understand?' I swallowed and replied 'Yes Pein-Sama', feeling his hand brush against my throat as I did so.

He released his light grip, never taking his eyes off me for a second; 'Kisame, you may take your leave. Handle him how you see fit'

Kisame grinned, calling me to his side and rested a large hand on my shoulder, squeezing slightly.

We both bowed before leaving Pein alone, he would probably go straight back outside like he always did, I always wondered if he had some kind of aversion to remaining indoors.

My heart was pounding beneath my bloodied mark of shame, I broke out in a cold sweat. I had never felt more stressed in my entire life that I had in the last twenty minutes.

I felt desperate, hoping that my ordeal had been the real thing and I wouldn't have to re-live it.

Itachi was no longer in the shadows and instead waited at the end of the corridor, he was as cold as always; 'I see that you managed to behave yourself this time'.

I saw his onyx eyes glance over my chest, 'Ah, the mark of the traitor' he said, falling in to walk side by side with me, he on one side, Kisame on the other.

I scowled at the statement, weren't we all traitors? What makes me worse than them?

'Shall we get this over with Itachi-San?' Kisame asked of the Uchiha.

'Yes. No point in keeping him waiting' his eyes swirled into life, flaring into the glittering red of the Sharingan before melding seamlessly into that which I feared the most; the Mangekyo.

'Kisame-Sama' I blurted out suddenly caring about my own mortality 'My...my chakra is sealed...won't that kill me?' I became flustered, petrified by the realisation of what was about to happen to me.

'Itachi-San knows what he's doing' was the last thing I heard before going under, the world having its colour sucked dry and everything appeared in harsh black and white contrast. I found myself paralysed, kneeling in unfamiliar space, unable to move a muscle as Itachi slowly approached. He pulled a shinken, and started slicing into my body. Lightly littering my skin with what felt like a thousand paper cuts, gradually slicing deeper, skinning me alive. My body sloughed of its flesh in places, he laid a hand over the gore of exposed muscle tissue and I screamed out as fire burned into me. The pain disappearing when the 'fire' had damaged the nerve endings beyond their ability to register pain, then the process repeated over and over and over again, I screamed until I was unable to scream no more, instead the air rasping blood from my torn throat.

The pain flared up as a bright colour, vivid against the monotones, slowly filling up my field of vision until all that I could see was coated in it.

I jerked awake and struggled a little, uncomprehending as my mind regained control over my body. A hand patted at my leg before wrapping around my calf muscle and holding tightly; 'Relax Kiddo, it's over' Kisame reassured. I realised I was slung over his shoulder again, my arms dangling down his back. I was aware that Itachi was walking next to us, all I could see was the back of him.

I relaxed, feeling Kisame loosen his grip on my calf as I settled and accepted the fact I was being carried. The Tsukoyomi lasted mere seconds in this world, but I had experienced the agony for three hours. I was glad it had only been three hours as promised and not more. I don't think I could have handled more of that hell.

I was carried through the winding corridors and through tunnels, eventually we entered a different elevator than the one we had originally used.

Kisame pressed the button for the 9th floor, Itachi reached out a pressed the button for the 12th.

'Hm?' Kisame looked at Itachi questioningly, 'Tired already, Itachi-San?' he asked, wondering if the Tsukoyomi had drained him more than it appeared.

'No. We can't allow him to be kept in the cells in his present condition. His wounds will undoubtedly get infected' he said matter of factly.

I felt Kisame shrug, the action jostled me a little, but as usual he submitted to Itachi's will without question; 'As you wish'.

The elevator descended, stopping on the 12th floor, we disembarked and headed towards the direction of the accommodation used by the members of Akatsuki when they were in Ame.

Everything was grey, the floors the walls, even the dusty lights on the ceiling. Bland and unimaginative décor, but it was never intended to be pleasing to the eye. It was functional, and that was all that really mattered.

Kisame halted beside a door, slipping a key-card from within a sleeve and unlocking the door, it sagged open on its hinges before he pushed it open and strode inside.

The lights flickered on, revealing a sparse room that looked like a cross between a cheap hotel and a prison cell. It had twin single beds, a small desk and chair, a single bedside table with a lamp next to one bed, it was too far from the other bed for it to be useful to the eventual occupant of said bed.

The floor was wooden, but the walls were the same grey concrete as the corridor. The only respite from the dull greyness was a window on the far wall, the curtain was pulled back to one side, revealing the dark, overcast, landscape of Amegakure in all its cold glory – littered with structures of varying dimensions, scaffolding and splashes of colour from signs dotted here and there visible through the battering and unrelenting rain.

Kisame set me on my feet and pointed to the bare corner, 'Go kneel down over there' he said bluntly.

I let an imperceptible sigh escape with a breath, it seemed like I would spend the evening on my knees. I decided that I no longer cared what happened, I had given up caring. Caring about something rarely made it change anyway.

I padded over and dropped to my knees heavily facing the wall, I felt fuzzy headed, but not on the brink of death like after the last Tsukoyomi. I guess the amount of exposure you get affects just how shit you feel afterwards. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the rain outside the window, Itachi frowned slightly as he cast an eye over my form; 'Kisame, we should get him cleaned up and tend those wounds to prevent infection'.

I frowned, I didn't want either of them near me if it could be helped. I certainly didn't want them touching me, even if it was to help. I just wanted to be left alone.

Kisame chuckled, 'I do wonder what goes through that head of yours sometimes Itachi-San' he said slipping Samehada from his shoulder and setting it down before removing his still-damp cloak and hanging it over the back of the chair.

Itachi removed his own cloak and set it aside, 'Prevention is better than a cure' he announced.

Kisame chuckled again, stretching deeply as he moved across the room, closer to where I knelt; 'Neh, Itachi-San, I suppose you're right. He could do with getting cleaned up a little', noting how grubby I actually was in the light of the room.

Itachi allowed a small smirk to cross his face; 'You both could do with it. The pair of you stink'

Kisame grunted a little, sniffing at himself and paying attention to his own scent. Itachi was right, we both stunk of dried blood and sweat. We were steeped in the stench of death from the fierce battle days ago, a crooked smirk appearing on his face as he took in the scent of blood; 'Want to draw straws?' he asked of the younger man.

'No' Itachi was as blunt as a house-brick, '...it makes sense for you to take care of that, seen as you need to clean yourself up as well. Besides Kisame, you should clean up your own mess...' he gestured lightly towards where I knelt.

Kisame shrugged, acknowledging that Itachi was right once again; 'Come on Kazou' he nudged at my feet with one of his own, 'lets go'. I stood up and turned towards him, a small growl of anger rumbling from my throat. 'Knock it off' Kisame chided.

I had my jaws clamped together tightly, my face screwed up in annoyance, he saw this, swatting the back of my head with the palm of his hand; '...and wipe that look off your face'.

Itachi momentarily let his stoic expressionless façade slip and smiled as he looked upon his long-time Akatsuki partner, Kisame exchanging glares with his delinquent subordinate. He leaned back on an elbow, watching with amusement as Kazou huffed at the notion of being accompanied to the washroom by Kisame, and Kisame steadily losing his cool and dragging his less-than-pleased charge from the room by the arm. Itachi allowed himself to smile, seeing them go at it like that reminded him of better days. He stood up, the smile fading as he brushed a few strands of hair from his face. He picked up the key-card Kisame had left behind and stepped from the room, glancing ahead as he watched Kisame pushing and pulling at Kazou.


	8. Chapter 8

All hail Masashi Kishimoto:

A/N: Another one directly influenced by the fact I'm stuck in hospital and have a head injury - I'm not allowed to do anything by myself in case I have a seizure or fall/pass out. I took a shower earlier and had not one, but two, nursing staff sat in the shower room with me - awkward.

* * *

'Kisame' he called ahead.

'…' Kisame glanced back over his shoulder, Kazou stopped trying to throw his weight around and instead focused his efforts into twisting his arm from Kisame's grip – unsuccessfully of course, but he was still trying.

Itachi continued to approach the pair, 'I believe that we imposed rules for this sort of thing, Kisame', he stopped a few feet back from them, eyes glinting red as he stared down Kazou, who upon seeing the Sharingan immediately stopped acting up and screwed his eyes tightly shut.

Kisame laughed, sharply yanking the suddenly-behaving-himself Kazou around and strode through the door marked 'Baths' up ahead, 'Stop resisting!' he barked as the door banged open against the wall.

Itachi shook his head slightly and followed them into the baths, taking a seat on a long bench that ran alongside a wall on the dry side of the room. He watched as Kisame shoved the youngster into the showers behind the waist high partition wall and straight into a corner.

'Don't move' Kisame growled, clearly tired and growing more irritated as it got later, before stripping off his clothing and dumping it in a pile. He turned the valve tap with one hand and held on to the edge of the partition wall with the other. Water spluttered from the array of shower heads, before gaining pressure and the flow becoming steady.

Kazou yelped as the water had come out freezing to start with, he was banging his head against the wall gently, clearly unhappy. The water began to warm and he settled quickly.

Kisame picked up a cloth that lay on top of the partition and doused it with gel from a bottle nearby, he scrubbed himself from head to toe, to rid himself of the distracting scent of blood, before rinsing off and scrubbing again.

He stood under the water for a few minutes with his eyes closed and his hands braced against the cool tiles as the water ran over his skin, he stepped back, ruffling his hair with a hand, sending it into disarray. He rinsed the cloth and doused more gel onto it, he just stood there for a minute or two, holding the wash cloth in his hand and staring into space.

He eventually snapped out of it and spoke up, 'All right, come here'.

Itachi watched the boy remove himself from the corner, the water from the end shower head had been soaking him for over ten minutes now, so the dried blood had softened and some of the caked-on dirt would rinse from him easier now that he was thoroughly soaked with clean water.

'Are you embarrassed?' Itachi asked, leaning back and folding one leg over the other.

Kazou flushed a little, glancing up at Kisame before returning Itachi's gaze; 'A bit. I've never been treated this way before, Itachi-San' he shrugged as he spoke.

Kisame took advantage of Itachi distracting the boy and started carefully rubbing the cloth over his back, trying not to open up any wounds or pull any scabs off.

He felt him flinch a little as he rubbed the cloth in small circles and dabbed at a piece of shredded skin.

'What do you mean by that?' Itachi questioned, 'You mean that you've never bathed with other men before?'

Kazou was still flushed, his cheeks and face tinged pink, he braced his hands on top of the partition wall as Kisame attempted to clean his back for him; 'Um... well... I've been to hot springs and stuff, so it's not like I haven't... but... um... I've never had anybody, well... you know... wash me before. It's a little uncomfortable, that's all Itachi-San'

'Deal with it' Kisame said, 'You can't wash your back properly if your hands are cuffed – and I'm not about to set you loose just yet, you haven't earned my trust'

He rinsed the cloth again before pouring some of the gel onto the boy's hair and roughly rubbing it in. He held out the cloth in front of Kazou's face, 'Here, the difficult part's done, you can finish off yourself right?'

Kazou nodded, taking it and started to scrub at his chest, carefully dabbing and prodding at the deep slices he had been forced to inflict upon himself earlier, the occasional wince appearing on his face as the soap entered the cuts and stung. Kisame rinsed his hands off and stepped out of the shower, pulling a towel from the rack and wrapping himself in it before taking a seat next to Itachi.

'Kazou, how old are you?' Itachi asked him.

The boy replied without missing a beat; 'Fifteen'.

Kisame's eyebrows raised, an expression of mild amusement on his face; 'You're a gigantic pain in the ass for only fifteen' he said, leaning back himself and resting his weight against the wall.

'What rank did you hold in Takigakure before you left?' Itachi continued to question, taking advantage of the fact that both the boy and Kisame appeared to have calmed down.

'Takigakure?' Kisame repeated, 'I thought you were from Ishigakure. Pff, ah well, makes sense I suppose – Kakuzu is from Taki and he's got a shitty temper on him too... must be a trait of that village, eh', he roared with laughter at his own observation, settling into a light chuckle.

'Mhm' Kazou replied, who was familiar with Kakuzu's notorious temper, but was not impressed to hear himself be likened to the older man; 'Special jounin' he said holding up his wrists and pushing the cuffs upwards slightly to reveal the thick, black, dual parallel lines that encircled them both, 'I was assigned to a hunting squad'

He turned his attention to scrubbing at his arms, although it was awkward when his wrists were cuffed, he managed his upper arms but couldn't manage to get his forearms clean at all.

Dirt, mud, blood and general grime still streaked them – Kisame rose and without saying a word, crossed the room, he was standing on the dry side of the partition wall, reaching across to where Kazou was standing and took the cloth from him, rubbing at his forearms and giving a quick once over to his upper arms, wiping away built up crud for him, handing the cloth back when he was done helping and returned to sit on the bench.

Itachi saw the surprised look on the boy's face, he was clearly not accustomed to anybody helping him. Probably due to spending a lot of time separated from his family if he was operating as a hunter from a young age. His odd behaviour was unsurprising knowing that fact.

Kazou scrubbed at the rest of himself, the grime and muck disappearing revealing a slightly lighter shade of tan than he had been previously. He stood under the shower head and rinsed off before wringing out the cloth and setting it on the wall.

He padded out from behind the wall and looked to Kisame; 'Can I get a towel Kisame-Sama?'

Kisame noted that some of the wounds were bleeding lightly from being disturbed, 'You're gonna get it covered in blood, but I suppose so'.

He watched as his young subordinate smiled a little as he grabbed one and covered himself with it by holding it in front of him, Kisame realised he couldn't wrap it around himself because of the cuffs, sighing as he realised he would have to help him again.

He grunted as he stood up and pulled the towel out of Kazou's hands, wrapping it around his waist and patting him on the head; 'Lets get you back to the room Kiddo'.

Kisame headed out of the shower room, Kazou automatically falling in behind and trailing him.

Itachi realised that they were functioning as Master and Subordinate slightly better than he had expected, he took a deep breath and rose to his feet, following the towel-clad pair back towards the room. He guessed they would realise soon enough that the door was locked and that he was in possession of the key.

He caught up just as Kisame rattled the handle in mild annoyance at the door being locked, he turned to say something, but was met by Itachi holding out the key-card to him.

He smirked, brushing his mild annoyance aside and took the card, unlocking the room and gesturing for them to enter.

Kisame motioned in the direction of the lacerated boy 'Kazou, go over there and...' but found himself cut off mid-sentence; 'Yeah yeah, I got it – back on my knees, right, Kisame-Sama'.

Kisame snorted, pulling on a pair of clean trousers and discarding the towel, 'Actually, I was going to say 'go over there and sit on that chair backwards with your ass hanging off the edge so it doesn't hurt so much', but for interrupting me, you can definitely go spend some time on your knees' a wide grin covered his face when he saw the annoyed reaction from the young ex-Taki hunter.

Itachi watched the boy as he pulled a face, indicating his annoyance at jumping to a false conclusion. He mused that the boy was intelligent, but was hindered by his impulsiveness.

'I'm going to see if I can get some clothing for him. Please keep an eye on him for a little while, Itachi-San' Kisame said, turning to leave.

Itachi agreed silently, sitting on the edge of the bed closest to the door and watching Kazou settle himself on his knees, resting his forehead against the wall. He noted nothing in his movements or breathing that would indicate a potential problem arising, and pulled a book from beneath his pillow, flipping to a page that had the corner folded back and proceeded to read.

Around half an hour later, Kisame returned, carrying a small bundle of clothing. 'There isn't any clothing in the stock room that will fit you, I've requested some, but it'll take a day or two – so in the meantime I borrowed some' he turfed the clothing onto the other bed, pulling at a pair of trousers and shaking them out, along with an unusually shaped vest and a long length of white cloth. 'Come get dressed, if you're done sulking' Kisame laughed.

Kazou hopped to his feet and went to where Kisame stood beside his bed, a confused look took to his face when Kisame held out the length of white cloth for him; 'Wrap yourself first, it's a fundoshi, there weren't any boxers to fit you either'

'I... er... I... don't know how' came a sheepish reply from the boy who was flushing a little again.

'Eh?' Kisame uttered, 'Nobody ever showed you huh?'

He sighed again as Kazou shook his head and looked away, uncomfortable with the fact he was about to get a lesson in wrapping and tying fundoshi underwear from Kisame.

Itachi let a smile slide across his face again, unseen by the two across the room, who were more interested in avoiding eye contact with one another than bothering to notice a rare smile on the Uchiha's face as he watched Kisame struggling to try and deal with Kazou.

True he was young, but he had never been allowed to be a child, knowledge that others took for granted – such as the things a father would teach his son, along with social awareness that should have been taught and reinforced by parents and siblings was almost non-existent with this boy, – he had lived his whole life up until now as an instrument of death, so it was a complete juxtaposition to see a hardened executioner look so lost with such basic tasks.

Kisame puffed his cheeks out, before exhaling in a sigh – he pulled the towel from around Kazou's waist and started to explain after throwing it aside, he positioned the cloth against a bruised shoulder 'You drape it over your shoulder first, like this, let it hang down so that it covers you' he pulled at it and adjusted it for him.

'Here, now you pull this end between your legs, then around your waist and then pull it through the back and twist it around'

Kazou had drawn his hands up to chest height to keep them out of the way as Kisame busied himself and tried to distance his consciousness from the situation by staring out of the window, as Kisame got on with it, explaining as he went.

'Okay, now you pull this leftover piece between your legs and wrap it around the other one from before, then you're left with just an end, you twist it so it won't unravel easily and wrap it along the part that wraps around your waist, okay?'

Kazou looked relieved when Kisame announced he was done, glad that the awkward experience was over with. But not forgetting his place, he offered his thanks.

'Heh, I never though I'd be showing a kid how to tie a fundoshi' Kisame chuckled, rubbing at the back of his neck a little.

Kazou remained silent, but glared intently at Kisame for calling him a kid. Murderers rarely liked to be referred to as children.

'It's not so bad right, at least it won't rub against your backside' Kisame held out the trousers which were taken and pulled on quickly.

They were a little loose, but not so bad that they might fall down, they were the same dark blue that everybody wore underneath their cloaks.

Kisame fiddled with the strange vest; 'It's one of Kakuzu's, so the back is open' he said as he figured out which way around it was supposed to go.

He pulled the larger loop of fabric over Kazou's head and down over his restrained arms and his torso until it was loosely around his middle, then pulled the fabric up his front and passed it under his cuffed arms before pushing the other loop over the boy's head and letting it settle around his neck. The garment was much too large, the fabric bunching a little in places, the neck loop was far too baggy, it hung down far enough to reveal part of the traitor's mark etched on the boy's chest.

Kisame decided it was a stroke of genius to borrow one of Kakuzu's shirts, as they were essentially just wide strips of cotton with different sized loops of fabric at either end to keep it on his body.

It solved a few problems simultaneously; he wouldn't have to remove the restraints, prevented having to have the boy walk around half naked, and would allow his back to breathe.

'Go sit on the chair backwards, you can rest' Kisame ordered, pointing towards the single straight-backed chair that was tucked underneath the seldom used desk.

Kazou willingly obeyed, obviously glad that he wouldn't get sent straight back to his knees for trying to be smart earlier.

He dragged the chair out and swung a leg over it, sitting down carefully on the edge so as not to put too much weight on his whipped backside. He rested his arms on top of the backrest and lay his head on them. He looked like he could fall asleep any minute.

Kisame made himself comfortable too, stretching out across his bed and folding his hands underneath his head, elevating it slightly so that he could still clearly see Kazou.

'You sure you're not related to Kakuzu if you're from Takigakure?' Kisame suddenly questioned.

Kazou scowled, irritated by the question, remained silent.

'Your skin's the same as his, and you've got a violent temper like him, plus you have the same tattoos on your wrists, and your names are similar... Ka-kuzu...Ka-zou' Kisame probed.

'Ksh, just because we're from the same village doesn't mean we're related. And, for your information, a lot of people from Taki have this skin tone and the tattoos are standard for Takigakure hunters – Kakuzu was a hunter long before I was born, so it's unsurprising he and I both have the same markings. I guess our names are similar, and I'll admit I've got a short fuse, but I'm nothing like him, so can you please just drop it, Kisame-Sama?'

Kisame chuckled, 'Hm, so you even served on the same unit, although generations apart, that still makes him Kakuzu-Senpai to you huh?'

'For fu...' Kazou caught himself before he swore, frowning and carefully metering his temper before continuing; '...please, can you just drop it – we're not related. There are similarities, but it ends there, Kisame-Sama'

A roar of laughter rumbled in Kisame's chest, clearly amused by the determined protest and how the tables had turned, he was the one provoking the boy for once and not the other way around, 'Neh, you're probably right, I just realised that you two kind of look similar, with the skin colour and the fact you're sitting there dressed in his clothes, that's all' he yawned loudly.

'All this stuff belongs to him then huh? So does that mean he's here in Ame too, Kisame-Sama?' Kazou enquired, showing more than a passing interest in the fellow ex-Taki soldier.

'Actually, the fundoshi was lying on a shelf in the store room and the pants are Hidan's, Kakuzu's would never have fit you, and yes, Kakuzu is here along with Hidan – they arrived back a few hours ago from collecting on a bounty'

Kisame stretched deeply before turning to Itachi; 'I take it you'd prefer if I let him sleep here?'

Itachi glanced up from reading, 'As opposed to what exactly?'

Kisame rumbled a dark laugh; '...to me getting rid of him to the 9th floor overnight so I can get a break from babysitting him...' Kazou furrowed his brow overhearing this remark, unimpressed.

'In that case, yes. I would prefer if you allowed him to remain here. The sooner his wounds heal, the better' announced Itachi bluntly.

Kisame sighed, 'Pff, I suppose so' he sat up and glanced around him before his eyes settled on a spot right next to his own bed, he held out a hand and pointed at the floor; 'Get over here, you can sleep on the ground beside your Master, heh heh!'

Kazou rolled his eyes and heaved himself up and off the chair, padding barefoot to the side of Kisame's bed and lying down on his stomach, his head resting on his arms; 'Try not to step on me if you get up in the night. I know how clumsy you can be when you're half-asleep...'

'Enough!' Kisame snapped, 'One more word from you and I'll knock your teeth out'.

Itachi silently read his book, Kisame dozed on and off for a few hours, and even Kazou managed to get a little rest.

Itachi set his book down and replaced it beneath his pillow, sitting up to remove his shirt before pulling the covers over himself.

He flicked off the bedside light and the room fell dark, save for a faint glow entering through the window for the brightly lit neon signs that littered the Amegakure skyline.

Kazou shifted around, trying to get as comfortable as was possible when sleeping on a hard wood floor; the silence of the room broken first by the chain clattering lightly against the wood, then by Kisame's hushed, gritty voice; 'No funny shit during the night– or I'll kill you. Got it Kiddo?'

Kazou was angered by his remark, but settled back down, also replying in a whisper 'Got it, Kisame-Sama'.


	9. Chapter 9

All hail Masashi Kishimoto:

A/N: Full of 'sleep inducers' again, so apologies for spelling/grammar etc - apparently I'm not being as cooperative as I ought to be and should just fall asleep as 8pm like all the other broken people instead of getting a sudden burst of energy and demanding to go outside...

* * *

Itachi was the first to wake, the morning light filtering through the window disturbing him. He yawned, peering across the room to see Kisame sprawled out across his bed with the covers flung back in a tangled mess around him, his mouth was hanging open and his right hand was twitching in his sleep.

He shifted his gaze to the floor and noted that Kazou had obviously wriggled around somewhat in his sleep as half of him was underneath Kisame's bed, he was lying slightly on his left side with his hands drawn up to his face, covering his nose and mouth. One knee was pulled up towards his chest and the other leg was straight.

Itachi wondered how on earth he could sleep in such an awkward position. He glanced at the small clock, noting that it was too early to bother disrupting the peace and quiet by waking the other two up. He fished his book out from beneath his pillow and started to read.

He had read to the end of the chapter before he felt unsettled, glancing sideways, he caught sight of intense brown eyes watching him – Kazou was awake, although he hadn't moved an inch nor said anything. He was just watching. It might have been dangerous were it not for the fact that he knew the boy's chakra had been repressed and sealed, by a technique that he had prepared himself for the very task of controlling his immense destructive power.

He returned his gaze to the tarnished pages of his book, 'Good morning, Kazou' he said, thumbing a page over.

'Mornin' Itachi-San' replied the boy who was now stretching out and yawning loudly whilst he still lay on the floor, he rocked from side to side and sighed contentedly.

Itachi started to think that there wasn't a single thing about the boy that could be classified as normal – his behaviour was so strange.

The rustling of bedsheets and a sudden grunt indicated that Kisame was waking up – probably disturbed by the hushed morning greetings, the loud yawning and the dulled thudding that emanated from the battered boy that lay close him as he twisted and stretched.

Kisame sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed, he scratched at his jaw and stretched again making his shoulders crunch.

He placed his left foot to one side of Kazou's head and his right foot to the other, he leaned forwards and looked between his knees at his alert subordinate, a crooked smile winding its way across his face as they made eye contact.

He stood up and strode heavily across the room towards the window, throwing open the sash and taking a deep breath.

Itachi got up and moved towards the door, pulling on a shirt as he walked; 'I suppose you're both hungry?' he said as he opened the door and disappeared out into the hallway.

Kisame turned around and leaned his back against the window-sill, watching the door close slowly after Itachi had left. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kazou getting up slowly, clearly stiff from sleeping on a hard wood floor.

'Lets go' he said, pushing his weight away from the windowsill and striding towards the door, holding it open for the boy.

They walked along the corridor towards the large decorative window at the end, before turning off into a large side-room that was fitted out to look like a small kitchen/canteen – like the sort that medium sized office complexes often had. Itachi was seated at a circular table, cradling a mug of something.

Kisame pointed to the opposite wall, 'Stand' he simply said as he pulled open a cupboard and started pulling cups, packets of sugar and tins of coffee from the shelves noisily.

Kazou muttered under his breath as he wandered over to the far wall and leaned against it.

Kisame shot him a glare hearing the muted whining and griping, gesturing in a small circular motion with his finger that the boy ought to turn and face the wall.

Kazou dropped his arms heavily against his body and tilted his head back, grunting a little 'pff' as he turned towards the wall.

Itachi knew that Kisame wasn't a morning person, he seemed reasonable enough if he was left alone, offering one word replies and guttural grunts and huffs until he had eaten something and drank his fill of coffee, so it was unsurprising that he had little tolerance of Kazou's attitude this early on.

Amidst the clattering, Kisame was able to gulp down a large mug of coffee as he went about making toast and preparing something more substantial to eat.

He munched idly on the toast as he waited for a large saucepan of oatmeal to heat up, sipping at his second mug of coffee within a half hour. The kitchen fell silent aside form the faint sounds of burbling milk and oatmeal simmering in the pot, and the faint crunch of toast from within Kisame's jaws.

'Oi, oi, what's this? A fucking crèche now?' the quiet shattered in an instant by Hidan waltzing in and immediately starting to mouth-off; 'Didn't know you were branching out into babysitting Kisame' he sneered. Kazou made a small 'ksh' noise from between gritted teeth and stole a glance back at the silver haired man.

Kakuzu entered the room, a newspaper folded underneath his arm and his favourite coffee mug in his hand. He poured coffee from the pot into it and sat down, folding his right ankle over his left knee and unfolded his paper, settling to read it.

'This the same little bastard that fucked off and left?' Hidan scoffed, glancing to Kisame, who merely nodded, not wanting to engage with Hidan who was cramming a handful of dry cereal into his mouth straight from the packet, he crunched on it for a few seconds as he studied the young figure before his eyes; 'Oi, what'cha standing against that wall for? Been a naughty boy eh?!' He laughed maniacally only to be cut off by an annoyed sounding Kakuzu; 'Hidan! Shut up, or you'll be joining him'

Hidan balked at the remark, 'Kakuzu!' he whined, sounding deflated, but taking the hint and flopping down in a chair and continued to stuff dry cereal into his mouth.

Itachi let out an imperceptible sigh, wondering if there was ever going to be a day where he didn't have to overhear an argument of some sort or witness asinine bickering or petty fights between a group of notorious criminals that really ought to act less like a bunch of vicious playground bullies around one another.

Kisame poured the oatmeal into two bowls, one ridiculously large and the other average, topping up his coffee before setting the bowls down on a table; 'Kazou' he called, 'Come sit down and eat'.

Itachi figured that Kisame was feeling a little more together now that he had eaten some toast and downed a couple of cups of coffee, after all, he had begun to form sentences that had more than two words in them.

Kazou turned and headed over to where Kisame had sat down, pulling out the chair next to him where a bowl had been placed for him, exchanging a glare with Hidan as he hesitantly sat down for the first time in two days. It felt like the lacerations would open up again as he committed his weight to the chair.

The silver haired man raised an eyebrow as he saw the boy reach across the table with cuffed wrists and take a spoon – but it wasn't the cuffs he was looking at, it was the tattoos around his wrists that had caught his attention. The last time he had laid eyes on the boy, he had bandages wrapped around his forearms. He knew what the markings were and what they signified from being partnered with Kakuzu, he smirked.

Kazou saw the look of recognition on Hidan's face, he silently willed him to keep his big trap shut as he spooned his breakfast into his mouth. The last thing he needed was an enraged Kakuzu accusing him of infiltrating the organisation as a spy in order to get close enough to make an assassination attempt on him – he knew of the extensive attempts by Takigakure to track down and eliminate its high-profile missing-nin, and before he had abandoned the village himself, had been involved in countless attempts and intricate traps to do just that.

He spooned more oatmeal into his mouth, glancing from the grinning priest, who was now sitting backwards on his chair in order to stare at him better to where Kakuzu sat.

He almost inhaled his mouthful of oats as he realised that Kakuzu was looking directly at him, he swallowed hard in an attempt not to choke, and looked away, staring into the bowl of beige in front of him. Without chakra he knew he was dead meat if anything happened.

'So you're a Hunter' Kakuzu drawled, sipping at his coffee and crinkling his newspaper as he moved to set the mug down. The grin on Hidan's face turned into a full-on sneer, he was expecting Kakuzu to react unfavourably to the presence of a fellow Taki hunter.

Kazou looked back up, making uneasy eye contact with Kakuzu, he decided risk answering; 'Used to be'. Kisame reached over and swatted Kazou across the back of his head with a palm; 'Address your seniors with respect – don't make me tell you twice'

Hidan sniggered, laughing a little more when he heard the reply; 'Of course. Sorry, Kisame-Sama'

He stopped laughing when he heard the next words, 'Forgive me for being rude - I used to be a hunter, Kakuzu-Senpai'

'Mmn' Kakuzu grunted, 'Interesting', he turned over a page and smoothed it down with one large hand.

Hidan couldn't contain himself any longer having been rendered temporarily speechless after hearing the kid refer to his partner as Senpai; he stomped his feet and stood up, slamming both hands down onto the table; 'Fucking brat!'

Hidan and Kazou locked eyes, neither moving a muscle as they exchanged death-glares.

'Hidan! Enough!' Kakuzu rumbled, 'Sit back down' he warned, before adding 'Don't make me tell you twice' his voice taking on a sarcastic emphasis as he mimicked Kisame's words and reminded his hot-tempered young partner who was in charge.

'Kuso...' Hidan muttered as he caved in to the demands of his older partner and sat back down.

'Hidan. Turn back around. Stop acting like a god-damned child' Kakuzu added, eliciting a loud groan from the silver haired man; 'Kakuzu!' he whined as he shifted around to sit properly, 'You're treating me like Kisame treats that fucking brat the way you keep nagging at me about shit. You're making me look bad' he grumbled.

Kakuzu picked up his mug and sipped at it, 'You're making yourself look bad, so just sit still, shut up and finish eating'.

Hidan growled, snatching the cereal box from the table and plunging his hand into it, fisting a handful and noisily shovelling it into his mouth as he sulked.

'Frankly, I'd be pleased if you did start behaving like that boy – at least he shows some respect for his elders and does what he's asked' Kakuzu stated with an unusual tinge of mirth in his voice.

Hidan was on his feet immediately, facing off to Kakuzu, spitting crumbs and knocking into the table so forcefully that coffee slopped from Kakuzu's mug.

In a split second Hidan was yelping, a hand wrapped tightly around his throat crushing it, forcing gurgles and rasps from it.

Kakuzu stood up, draining what was left of his coffee from the mug and calmly heading towards the door, dragging a struggling Hidan along with him by the throat – his legs kicking out and his hands madly trying to prise hardened fingers from around his throat.

'Kisame' he said, pausing as he pushed the door open with a foot – Kisame looked up; 'Hm?'

'I want to speak to the boy, alone' he said. Kisame shrugged, his mouth full of food, he swallowed; 'He belongs to Pein, so you can't kill him. He's also my subordinate and I'd rather you not harm him either' he added, digging his spoon back into the oats and shovelling another large spoonful up.

Kakuzu's eyes narrowed, sensing possession in Kisame's voice; 'I just need to speak with him – you know full well that I will not lay a finger upon him unless he deserves it'

Kisame shrugged, swallowing again; 'Fine. Come by after you're done calming Hidan down...'

Kakuzu nodded and proceeded to drag Hidan away by the throat, his lips had turned blue, but it's not like it would cause him any real harm.

The kitchen fell silent again, Itachi was sat with his eyes closed and his arms loosely folded across his chest, Kisame was scraping his bowl and Kazou sat with a mild expression of confusion on his face.

Kisame reached across and picked up Kazou's empty bowl, piling it on top of his own one; 'Bet you're glad you didn't get stuck with Kakuzu as a master eh?'

Kazou continued to stare across the room blankly, 'Mhm' was all he could muster as a response to that notion.

Kisame dumped the dishes into the sink and motioned that Kazou should follow him with a tilt of his head, Itachi remained in the kitchen, probably glad that it was once again silent in there.

As they walked the short distance back to the room, a smear of blood was visible on one of the door frames they passed, indicating where Kakuzu had dragged Hidan minutes ago.

Kisame opened the door and they both entered, Kisame grabbed his hip pouch from where it lay and moved over by his bed, he waved Kazou over to him and using a hand to guide him when he was close enough, made him stand directly in front of him.

Kazou squirmed a little under such intense scrutiny, but didn't move from where he had been put.

Kisame reached in to the hip pouch and pulled a small pot from within it, cracking the lid off with one hand and dipping a finger into the bluish cream, he set the pouch and lid down and hooked a finger into the loose fabric that covered the boy's chest and pulled it aside, revealing the mark of the traitor. He smeared the cream over the wound, making Kazou flinch at the touch.

He covered the wound liberally before allowing the fabric to cover it again, he dipped his finger into the bluish substance again before uttering 'Turn around'.

Kazou did as he was asked, feeling a heavy hand come to rest on his left shoulder to steady him as he felt Kisame sit down on the edge of his bed and begin to coat the injuries that littered his back with the salve.

It took a few minutes for Kisame to work his way down his back, but he knew it was coming, he felt his loose fitting trousers being pulled down until they lay bunched up around his ankles.

His face flushed instantly, still deeply uncomfortable with this kind of close contact, he had always hated being touched, even withdrawing from his own mother when she tried to embrace him as a small child. She had cried at his standoffish nature and aloofness. His coldness towards others and innate natural abilities soon landing him in the clutches of the most feared squad within the entire village.

Kazou's wandering mind was grounded firmly back in the present when the door suddenly opened and Itachi walked in, Kazou breathed a momentary sigh of relief until a tan hand stopped the door from closing over completely and Kakuzu leaned against the door frame before knocking on the already opened door. The slight flush that had been on his face bloomed into a full out blush at being trapped in the situation he was in – surrounded by his peers and being treated like an injured child, failing of course, to realise that that's exactly what he was to them; an injured child.

Itachi walked to the window and closed the sash that had been left wide open from earlier on, turning to lean on the sill and watch Kisame roughly plastering the ointment over the angry welts.

Kisame tilted his head to see around the boy and saw Kakuzu; 'Two minutes, I'm putting salve on his wounds'

Kakuzu stood upright and stepped further into the room, letting the door close behind him. He sat on the edge of the desk, his bi-coloured eyes piercing Kazou's own, 'That stuff better not stain, Kisame' he announced, 'That is my shirt he's wearing'.

Kisame responded with a chuckle, pulling up the loose fitting trousers and settling them around the hips of his broken subordinate before him.

A heavy hand patted at a shoulder; 'Go with Kakuzu. Behave yourself and show respect', the boy drew a deep breath, clearly a little flustered; 'Okay, thanks for the ointment Kisame-Sama' before walking purposefully towards Kakuzu, who was clearly far too used to dealing with an uncooperative Hidan and automatically reached out and grasped Kazou around the bicep and led him from the room rather than allow the boy to move freely.

Kisame replaced the lid onto the pot of salve before shoving it back into his hip pouch, he lay back on his bed and clasped his hands behind his head. Waiting for his pain-in-the-ass subordinate to be returned to him.


	10. Chapter 10

All hail Masashi Kishimoto:

A/N: Typed this on my phone as I keep getting told to put my laptop away as one of the other dudes on this ward complained that the screen light was disturbing him at night, aaaaand, I'm not allowed into the 'day room' to use it in there because there aren't enough staff to keep an eye on me during the night, and after I got annoyed and argued with them a little, I was treated to this wonderfully sarcastic retort from a less-than-pleased-at-my-colourful-language ward sister "If you were allowed in there at night, it wouldn't be called a day room would it..." I'm definitely developing a 'Hidan attitude' the longer I stay here. Grim.

* * *

Kazou found himself being escorted towards the room with the smear of blood on the door frame, internally he felt his stomach churn at the thought of being questioned in front of Hidan, but he bit back the feeling and sucked in another deep breath as he was roughly pulled through the door after Kakuzu.

He found himself standing in the middle of the room, immediately noting that Hidan was nowhere to be seen and although the room was identical in design and proportion, it was a complete mess compared to Kisame and Itachi's room; bedding lay strewn on the floor alongside clothing, tools, scrolls, weapons and disturbingly, streaks of pooled blood. Kakuzu turned his back to him and kicked stuff out of the way with his foot, clearing a path to the far side of the room; 'Get over here. Face the wall' Kakuzu barked, once again using unnecessary force to get Kazou to stand facing the far wall.

Kazou figured that it was either because Kakuzu was suspicious of him or the fact that he was too accustomed to using force to get things done.

Once Kazou had positioned himself against the wall, he couldn't help but glance to the side to notice that Hidan's body was slumped between the bed and the wall in an awkward position, he jumped a little when he heard Kakuzu's voice and realising he had been caught staring at the older man's partner and not at the wall as he had been instructed; 'He's unconscious. Blood loss' he simply stated. He turned back to face the wall, listening to the sounds Kakuzu made as he shifted things about behind him.

A few uncomfortably tense minutes passed before the crushing silence was broken by Kakuzu's gritty voice; 'Come here, boy'. Kazou tried not to let his annoyance show at being referred to as 'boy' by the older male.

He turned to see that the floor had been cleared somewhat – most of it being pushed into a pile beside Hidan's bed, leaving a clear path from where he stood to where Kakuzu sat on the chair positioned by the small desk.

He padded over, avoiding a smear of blood on the wooden flooring as he did so, and found himself standing before Kakuzu, who scrutinised him in return before pointing to the floor in front of him and commanding; 'On your knees'

Kazou obeyed, making his own conclusion that Kakuzu would never allow him to stand over him whilst he was seated, it was a basic assertion of dominance.

'Your age?' came the first question, and inwards Kazou was glad that his interrogation was starting off with an easy one.

'Fifteen, Kakuzu-Senpai' he replied, trying to find something other than those harsh eyes to stare at.

'Whilst I appreciate manners, you don't need to address me so formally every time you open your mouth, so keep it short, you may refer to me simply as Senpai, understood?' Kakuzu drawled, his deep voice making the hairs on the back of Kazou's neck stand up, 'Sorry about that. Kisame-Sama insists, but I will do as you ask, Senpai'

Kakuzu smirked beneath his mask, making his nose wrinkle up slightly; 'So...' he continued, 'what age did you make Genin?'

'Six, Senpai' he replied realising that this was going to be a long drawn out process that carefully analysed his entire existence.

Kakuzu wanted information detailing the youngster's entire career, his lifestyle, his attitudes and personality, who he associated with and who he served with, who he obeyed and ultimately who he betrayed and for what reasons. Kakuzu intended on knowing everything about this kid.

Once he had the basic information, such as graduation age, promotion age and all squad captain and team member names, he probed deeper, asking his next question he noted an uncomfortable shift in the boy; 'Your family name?', he had only intended to learn the boy's family name to see if he was the descendant of those that hung him out to dry all those years ago, but the response he got wasn't exactly what he was expecting; 'No'.

Kakuzu's eyes narrowed, 'You had better be telling me that your family name is 'No' – as unusual as it sounds, because you certainly aren't dumb enough to flat-out refuse to answer one of my questions, are you?'

Kazou screwed his eyes tightly shut, 'I... I'm sorry... b.. but I... c... can't...' his voice racked with tremors. Kakuzu growled, reaching out and painfully grabbing a fistful of hair and forcing the boy to look at him; 'You have five seconds to answer me' he rasped, his face so close to the others that Kazou could feel the warmth of his breath through his mask as he spoke.

The seconds dragged by, their eyes locked, Kakuzu's were unflinching, the boy's were darting around almost as if he was searching for something, his eyes were still averted when he spoke; I... I can't... t... tell you... w... what you already know... Se... Senpai'

Kakuzu let out another growl, finally breaking eye contact to glance beyond the boy towards the stirring form of Hidan who was finally coming around.

His eyes regained their gaze upon the boy who had begun to squirm in his dangerous grasp, he leaned forwards, bringing his mouth to the boy's ear and hushing his voice to nothing more than a whisper; 'Quietly, so that only I hear – tell me' he demanded, yanking Kazou's head backwards a fraction so that the boy's mouth was level with his own ear.

Kazou gritted his teeth, before closing his eyes and unclenching his jaw, his mouth opening, his lips carefully forming shapes as he whispered a single word into Kakuzu's ear.

Hidan had pulled himself up into a seated position, but still remained on the floor, he rubbed at the fading wound on the side of his neck where he had been assaulted earlier and exsanguinated.

He glanced up to see Kakuzu sat at his desk, with a hand fisted into the hair of Kisame's brat who knelt before him and the other squeezing the kid's arm so tightly that the skin had already started to bruise under his fingers, he noted that Kakuzu was holding the kid close to him.

Hidan was about to pass comment on the scene before his eyes, but stopped himself when he registered a slight reaction on the face of his ill-tempered partner, he was an expert in reading Kakuzu's moods, especially since he was most often on the receiving end of them.

Hidan raised an eyebrow as he saw Kakuzu's green pupil-less irises dilate wildly. It always creeped Hidan out when Kakuzu's eyes registered an emotion, their strange structure only serving to make the automatic ocular reflex more unsettling.

He decided to keep quiet, and instead watched silently as Kakuzu rose up out of the chair and pulled the kid to his feet roughly by his hair, who surprisingly enough didn't even yelp at the gesture.

Kakuzu let go of the boy's hair, leaving his crushing grip firmly attached around his arm though, and silently left the room with the boy in tow.

Hidan muttered to himself, cursing when he saw the pile of crap heaped next to his bed, he knew that he was expected to clean up after earning one of Kakuzu's mock-executions. He pulled himself to his feet and groaned, seeing how far the blood had splattered this time, dropping his weight heavily onto his bed and resting his head in his hands.


End file.
